dilly-dally

verb
/ˈdɪliˌdæli/

Etymology

Reduplication of dally.

Definitions

  1. To dawdle

    To dawdle; to waste time; to procrastinate.

    • It is something to have been an old soldier, but more still to have been a doctor. There is no time to dilly-dally in our work.
    • “I wouldn't dilly-dally long if I were you,” said Harkless, and his advice seemed good to the shell-men.
    • It likewise manifests the frankness of men who do not dilly-dally with terms, but who say what they mean, and who mean to settle down to a long, hard fight.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for dilly-dally. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA